Mr. Pádraig Ó Ríordáin:

I might go through the statement because it will probably answer many of the questions that are likely to come up. I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for inviting me to attend today's meeting. It has been a privilege for me to serve as chairman of the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, since January 2012 when I was nominated to the position by the then Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar and last appeared before this committee. I am honoured that the current Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Donohoe, has now nominated me to serve a second term as chairman of the group. It has been a pleasure to work with him and his team in defining the objectives and direction of the DAA.

Before turning my attention to the DAA over the past three years and the objectives of the group going forward, it may be helpful to briefly outline my own background and qualifications for the job. I am from Bishopstown in Cork. I studied law at University College Cork and qualified as a barrister in King's Inns in Dublin. I then moved to the United States of America, where I completed a Master of Laws degree at Harvard Law School. I began my career with a Wall Street law firm before joining the Irish law firm, Arthur Cox, to run its New York office. I returned home to Ireland in 1996 after seven years in the US. I was elected managing partner of Arthur Cox in 2003 and re-elected to the position for a second and final term in 2007. I continued to be a practising corporate partner in Arthur Cox, which employs 700 people and is one of Ireland's largest law firms. I am also a non-executive director of Paddy Power plc which is listed on the Dublin and London stock exchanges and now employs over 3,000 people.

When I became chairman of the DAA in early 2012, the company faced some significant challenges which I outlined in my nomination hearing before this committee at that time. The previous chairman of the company had resigned, the term of the company's then chief executive was coming to an end and there were several vacancies at board level. Traffic at the airports was weak, debt levels were high and relations between the company and the shareholder - the State - as well as some of its primary customers, were often quite strained. Morale among staff at the DAA was low and shortly after my appointment, Dublin Airport was served with an Article 15 security compliance notice by the European Commission.

Since then I am happy to say that traffic at Dublin Airport has increased by 16% to 21.7 million passengers, making it one of the best-performing EU airports in terms of traffic growth over that period. We have reduced our debt levels by 20%, or €150 million. We have rebuilt a very strong and cohesive board and critically, have found an exceptional chief executive in Mr. Kevin Toland to lead the group forward. Under Mr. Toland's leadership we have restructured and reinforced management and the way we run the company. We have redefined the company's values and developed a clear strategic plan. We have been clear in our objectives and have communicated actively with all of our stakeholders in realising them. We have refocused Aer Rianta International, ARI, our international duty-free business and have initiated a promising new business in daa International.

Our relationship with our shareholder, that is, the State and the Department, is cohesive and transparent and we have returned to our roots of being a customer-focused organisation. We have totally reorganised and reinforced our approach to security and have been focused on restoring staff confidence in management and sense of purpose as a team. Above all, we are playing our role in the economic recovery of the country, in terms of passenger numbers and our intention to return to paying dividends to the State. Dublin Airport and Cork Airport are also providing the central support to the ConnectIreland initiative, which is creating more than 1,000 sustainable jobs in the country over the next three to five years. Despite the progress we have made in each of these areas, real and immediate challenges remain for the group. The two primary challenges are the resolution of the pensions position for our staff and the reduced traffic levels at Cork Airport, to which I will return in some detail. Before that, I will focus on our journey at the daa over the past three years.

A good chief executive is the primary driver of everything at a company the size and importance of the daa. He or she defines the business priorities, builds the teams and relationships and provides the leadership that makes a company successful. The most important job for any chairman is to ensure that the correct chief executive is identified and appointed as well as supporting and challenging that chief executive in appropriate measure.

As our previous chief executive, Declan Collier, was leaving the company, my immediate priority when I was appointed was to find a new chief executive to lead the company. Between the search process and notice periods this took nearly a year to complete, but the time was well worth it. We were particularly fortunate to attract a person of the calibre of Kevin Toland, who at the time was chief executive and president of Glanbia USA and Glanbia Nutritionals, to join the daa in January 2013. Mr. Toland had been with Glanbia since 1999 and had previously held the roles of group development director, chief executive of consumer foods and director of strategy and marketing. Mr. Toland has been a transformational chief executive and precisely the kind of person we need in senior roles in the State sector. Given time, I believe Mr. Toland will lead the daa back to being the jewel in the crown of semi-State companies it once was as Aer Rianta, for all stakeholders, including the State, customers and our employees.

I argued strongly before Mr. Toland's appointment for a remuneration policy at Government level which would allow the daa to pay its chief executive at a level more in line with his private sector value. I make that argument even more strongly now, in respect of base salary and in reintroducing performance-related pay at chief executive level. It is critical to the semi-State sector to find and retain leaders of Mr. Toland's ability. I urge the committee to do what it can to assist the board of the daa in achieving this objective.

In addition to recruiting a new chief executive, the board of the daa was in a transition phase when I was appointed chairman, since the term of a number of non-executive directors had already ended. I worked with the Minister on the range of skills and competencies required to build an effective board and I am pleased the Minister has put in place a board of strong calibre, the members of which, together with our worker directors, have worked in a focused and cohesive way to deliver our key shareholder priorities. I wish to take this opportunity to thank my board for its support and dedication. Moreover, I thank the former Minister, Deputy Varadkar, and the current Minister, Deputy Donohoe, for the care they have taken to equip the board with the people and skills we need.

In the transformation of Dublin Airport and the building of terminal 2, which has become a real success for Dublin Airport, the group took substantial levels of debt onto its balance sheet. Over the past three years, we have made significant progress in eroding this debt. In the three years from 2010 until 2013, the daa's net debt was reduced by €151 million to €614 million, which is equivalent to a 20% reduction in debt. The daa has not yet produced its annual results for 2014 and, therefore, I am somewhat constrained in the detail that I can provide on last year's performance. The accounts, when published, are likely to show a further overall reduction in net debt levels. As with many large infrastructural businesses, the daa's debt profile is related to its capital expenditure programme and debt levels had increased to fund necessary capital investments at the airport.

At the end of 2011 the daa had a credit rating of BBB CreditWatch negative. I am pleased that on the back of strong growth in the daa's business and its current profile the group's credit rating was late last year raised to BBB+ with a stable outlook. This rating bodes well for the group as it prepares to re-finance its long-term debt over the next two years. This is critical to the company.

I will set out the position on increasing passenger numbers. In 2011 traffic at the daa's three airports was poor and had increased in that 12 month period only by 0.5%.

Since then, overall passenger numbers at Dublin and Cork airports have increased by 13% between 2012 and 2014. This was due to a combination of the improving economy, Government policy on travel tax and VAT and very focused efforts by daa to attract and keep new airlines and routes over that period. At Dublin, passenger traffic levels are moving back towards peak levels and in some sectors of the business, we are seeing record levels of business. Passenger numbers at Dublin increased by 8% to 21.7 million last year, helped by a record 2.1 million transatlantic passengers and good growth across all major markets comprising Britain, continental Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Last year's 8% increase at Dublin Airport followed a 6% increase in passenger numbers in 2013. This growth at Dublin is outpacing the average traffic performance at airports within the European Union, as recent ACI Europe data show that passenger numbers across airports within the EU increased by 4.9% last year. Dublin is also positioning itself as a significant hub for transatlantic transfer traffic, which is a new development, as a record 750,000 passengers connected at Dublin last year. Pre-clearance into the United States by the US Customs and Border Protection in Dublin is at the core of our ability to provide this connectivity and is essential to the future growth of Dublin Airport as a hub.

I now turn to Shannon Airport and the renaming of daa. In early 2012, when I was appointed chairman of daa, the Government was considering a number of options for the future structure of Cork and Shannon Airports. In May 2012, the Government announced that it planned to restructure the State airports by separating Shannon Airport from daa and putting the former Shannon Development and Shannon Airport under a new group structure. The establishment of the Shannon Group in 2014 brought together Shannon Airport, Shannon Commercial Enterprises Limited, which includes the Shannon Free Zone and a significant property portfolio, Shannon Heritage and an International Aviation Services Centre, IASC.

Shannon Airport was separated from daa on the basis that daa retained all of the €100 million debt attributed to Shannon and this, together with the significant rent roll of the new entity, has provided particularly strong long-term financial support for Shannon. In order to reflect the new structure of the business, the group's name changed from Dublin Airport Authority to daa last year after the State Airports Act 2014 became law. The new name more accurately reflects the group's business, which now comprises Dublin Airport, Cork Airport and two overseas businesses, Aer Rianta International and DAA International.

I now turn to Cork Airport, which is a key focus of the company and of the board. The growth in passenger numbers in daa is all generated in Dublin and masks the challenging situation in Cork, where passenger numbers continue to decline. As a Corkman who grew up close to Cork Airport, this is a problem very close to my heart. Despite a global survey finding in 2014 that Cork Airport was rated the World's Best Regional Airport for Customer Service by both business and leisure customers, passenger numbers declined in Cork Airport by 5% to 2.1 million last year. Last year's traffic decline at Cork Airport was due primarily to Ryanair moving some of its eastern European flights from Cork Airport to Shannon Airport. This was an unintended consequence of the separation of Shannon Airport from daa, with Shannon Airport now able to offer airlines materially greater incentives than Cork.

Kerry Airport enjoys direct State support and also has the advantage of direct State subsidy of certain airlines flying there on the basis of a public service obligation contract. In contrast to Shannon and Kerry, Cork Airport has no such advantages. In this environment, despite very dedicated efforts by daa management in Cork and Dublin to reverse the trend, traffic at Cork has continued to decline, despite the fact that airport charges at Cork have not increased in more than ten years and are highly competitive when compared to Cork's peers in Britain and continental Europe.

However, this is only part of the picture. An airport is, in many ways, like a bus station. It cannot generate traffic on its own. It needs the active support of the region and active marketing to visitors to come to the region. We are perfectly poised to take advantage of this. We have an excellent airport facility in Cork and provide a world-class product in terms of the customer service that we offer to passengers. As a relatively small regional airport, Cork provides exceptional service, with 42 scheduled routes and great connectivity into Heathrow, Schiphol and Charles de Gaulle, the three major European hubs. Therefore, we remain optimistic and are actively seeking answers to Cork. We have established the Cork Airport Development Council to assist us in that task. For the first time we have full board meetings each year in Cork and have a permanent sub-committee of the board focused on Cork Airport.

Only 37% of Cork Airport's passengers are inbound, which is notably low by international standards. This signals that there is significant potential for tourism growth into Cork and the wider Munster area. However, this potential can only be realised by a cohesive and funded regional tourism emphasis on the region, perhaps most obviously in marketing Cork and the region more generally as the start of the Wild Atlantic Way.

The airport will continue to work closely with tourism and all other relevant agencies and organisations to exploit this potential market. I ask the committee’s support in generating the necessary tourism, policy and other initiatives to improve traffic to and from Cork. In the meantime, we continue to work hard to attract new business to Cork and sustain the traffic we have. This summer, Cork will welcome a new twice-weekly scheduled service to Prague from CSA Czech Airlines and the airport continues to engage with customers and stakeholders to help expand its overall traffic base. We will continue to stay very focused on doing whatever we can to restore Cork to growth.

A focus on costs is a constant within the aviation sector, as it is within many spheres of business. Between 2010 and 2013, overall costs at the group grew from €248 million to €250 million, which is an increase of less than 1% during those three years. Within the Irish element of the business, costs have increased somewhat, due primarily to additional staffing in security areas, whereas costs in daa’s overseas operation have declined as the mix of our businesses has changed. Costs to our airline customers have not increased in recent years. Airport charges at Dublin have been effectively flat since 2012 and will decline by 4% this year, while charges at Cork Airport have not increased in more than ten years.

Turning to pensions, which is a critical issue for us, finding a sustainable resolution to the challenges that faced the multi-employer Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme, IASS, has been a major focus for the group for several years. It is an area of critical importance to the lives of our employees and, as a board, we have enormous focus on resolving it in the best possible way. The IASS had been seriously under-funded for many years and the roots of the problem stretch back to flaws in the scheme since its establishment nearly 60 years ago. Last March, an expert panel was established by the Government, ICTU and IBEC to review how a final resolution of the industrial relations issues relating to the IASS could be secured. The expert panel issued its report in June 2014, with separate recommendations for daa and Aer Lingus. The extent of the funding issues in the IASS were such that the issues in question could not be resolved by the scheme’s trustee without some impact on members. In this context, resolving the issue was never going to be easy or painless.

It was unfortunate that the company found itself in a situation last March, faced with a potential closure of Dublin and Cork airports, that we had no choice but to secure injunctive relief from the High Court to avoid a SIPTU strike at the airport in regard to the pensions issue. The view of daa was that the planned industrial action by SIPTU was unwarranted and untimely, as the expert panel had just been established to consider the matter. Since the injunction was granted in March, the expert panel has reported and we have now, I believe, put forward an offer to staff and deferred members of the scheme which significantly bridges the cuts that have been made by the trustee to pensions they had contributed to, and offers a way forward on this very complex and understandably emotive issue.

daa is making a very significant investment to resolve this issue, with €72 million being invested for employees and deferred members of the IASS. daa will also fund higher ongoing employer contributions into the new defined contribution pension scheme for all current employees, which comprises 1,400 employees who were previously members of the IASS and 1,200 other daa employees.

Regrettably, despite protracted opportunities for engagement with unions, the company offer, which reflects the expert panel recommendations and which is open until 15 March, has not, as yet, been made within a collective bargaining framework. As a result, the company has gone with the only available alternative. In a situation where the IASS was frozen by its trustee on 31 December, daa has honoured its commitments within the expert panel report and made the offer available to staff and deferred members on an individual basis. Deferred staff are in a position to benefit from moneys invested by the company in a pension scheme resolution. Some deferred members are aggrieved that they are not in a position now to avail of an anomaly in the scheme which had previously allowed them to receive what was in effect a double pension – a full pension from the IASS with a State pension on top of that again. The IASS was never funded on this basis and this anomaly has been removed by the trustee as part of the overall solution to the pension issue.

The company has communicated extensively to members of the IASS in respect of the offer and the board believes it has done everything it can to support as fully as possible the pensions position of its members.

The company is actively encouraging members of the IASS scheme to avail of the offer before the cut-off date. I hope members accept this offer and secure their pension position, but I accept the decision is entirely within their hands.

The expert panel is currently re-engaging with SIPTU and ICTU to provide clarification on a number of points and the daa is assisting with this. The daa's preference throughout this process has been to secure collective agreement for the company’s proposal, which is a full and final offer to resolve the pension issues at the company and follows the recommendations of both the Labour Court and the expert panel. I cannot however rule out the prospect of further industrial action being contemplated by trade unions over the coming weeks as we approach the deadline for acceptance of the offer. We need to move forward, to bring closure to this difficult issue for everyone involved, for our employees for whom this is a critical issue, and for the company. Deferring the date for acceptance of offer is not an option. The Retired Aviation Staff Association, RASA, which represents former employees of the daa and Aer Lingus, has indicated in recent days that its members have voted to proceed with a legal challenge in regard to cuts in pension benefits imposed by the IASS trustee. It is not clear against whom such a case would be taken.

On the question of regulation, airport charges at Dublin Airport are regulated by the Commission for Aviation Regulation, CAR, which last autumn completed its determination for the period 2015-19. The daa's intention, which had been communicated to the CAR, had been to keep charges flat over the next five years to stimulate passenger growth while simultaneously prudently investing in key areas to facilitate expansion and further improve the overall passenger experience at Dublin Airport. Instead, the regulator opted to reduce airport charges at Dublin by 19% during the period. Dublin’s charges are already 22% lower than the average airport charge at its peer European airports. We believe this significant additional reduction is unwarranted and will inhibit the development of Dublin Airport as the key gateway to the country and materially reduce the daa’s ability to return dividends to the State, with this value being transferred to private airlines.

The regulator’s latest determination is further confirmation that the current prescriptive regulatory model is not working. Dublin Airport typically accounts for less than two thirds of all air travel to and from the island of Ireland. This provides the necessary scale for Dublin Airport to function as a hub and is clearly a strong market position. However, Dublin does face competition, both from other airports on the island of Ireland and, crucially, airports in other countries seeking to attract airline capacity. Airlines operate mobile assets and exert considerable competitive pressure on airports. Capacity can and does move from airport to airport, as we have recently seen in Cork. Dublin Airport also faces considerable market pressure, as its two largest customers account for approximately 75% of its traffic and, individually and collectively, exert considerable buying power. Dublin Airport does not have market power to price that the current regulatory environment presupposes that it has. This is evidenced by the fact that Dublin Airport has chosen in specific years not to price to the current price cap, precisely for reasons relating to the potential impact of such pricing on the market.

A more responsive regulatory model that would set broad parameters for the business should be the aim of the forthcoming regulatory review. The regulator should be supportive of investment in airport infrastructure that meets current and future requirements of the country and also enables the airport to comply with all necessary safety, security and policy regulations. The regulated business should be able to have the confidence of the financial markets, and be able to grow value for its shareholder, the State.

In regard to security, in March 2012, shortly after I became chairman of the daa, a regular EU audit of security processes at Dublin Airport regrettably identified a series of legacy security issues that required intervention at EU level and remediation. The issues raised by the EU auditors, which resulted in an Article 15 notice being issued, were taken very seriously by the daa. The company reviewed all of its security processes in light of the findings and worked closely with senior officials in the Department of Transport on resolving these issues. One of the issues flagged was rectified immediately, while the other matter was resolved within a month. Neither issue related to the screening of passengers or their luggage at Dublin Airport. In the wake of the audit, the board immediately undertook a root and branch analysis of the manner in which security was implemented and monitored at Dublin Airport. This resulted in a thorough overhaul of the systems and management of our security processes and has resulted in a sea-change in our approach to security.

With regard to the future, in recent weeks there has been much comment in regard to the proposed takeover of Aer Lingus by IAG and having requested our view, this committee received submissions from both Dublin Airport and Cork Airport with regard to this issue in late January. As indicated at that time, based on the limited information which has been issued by both parties, it appears there may some potential positives for Dublin Airport should the transaction proceed.

If a takeover were to go ahead, management at Cork Airport would work, not just to maintain the existing services offered by Aer Lingus at Cork, but would also examine the potential for new services from IAG's key airline subsidiaries and its membership of the Oneworld alliance. No formal takeover offer has yet been made by IAG and it is not yet certain whether such an offer will be made. In the absence of a formal offer document, and given that Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia and Vueling are all customers of daa, there is little further that I can add in regard to the potential takeover at this stage.

The core purpose of daa is to connect Ireland with the world and this is at the heart of what we do on a daily basis at our two Irish airports in Dublin and Cork. It plays a vital role in the Irish economy to boost trade, tourism and investment.

As indicated previously, Dublin Airport is currently enjoying strong passenger growth and will welcome 15 new services this year. daa is continuing to develop Dublin as a transfer hub for transatlantic traffic and this is working well. Last year, transfer passengers numbers increased by 34% to three quarters of a million. The group's near-term target is to grow this business to two million passengers per year. These additional transfer passengers can play a major role in underpinning the viability of new routes at Dublin, and also encourage airlines to expand the number of flights they offer on existing services. The Aer Lingus service to San Francisco is a perfect example of the importance of a steady flow of transfer traffic for overall connectivity from Dublin Airport. Aer Lingus launched the new San Francisco route last year and operated four return flights per week. A direct connection to the west coast of the United States was warmly welcomed by IDA Ireland and many US technology firms that have operations in Ireland. This year, thanks in no small measure to the transfer business on the route, Aer Lingus will operate a daily return service from Dublin to San Francisco.

This summer, Dublin will be the sixth largest airport in Europe for transatlantic connectivity as only the major hubs of Heathrow, Schiphol, Paris, Frankfurt and Madrid will have more flights to North America. The airport is increasingly winning business from passengers in Britain and continental Europe who are now choosing to transfer via Dublin.

Dublin has also witnessed a significant expansion in long-haul services to the Middle East in recent years. Dublin Airport's passenger numbers to the Middle East and North Africa doubled between 2011 and 2013, and increased by a further 19% last year. Etihad and Emirates both now operate double daily services from Dublin to the Middle East and offer passengers onward connections to India, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Short-haul services are also growing at Dublin. Aer Lingus and Ryanair have added extra services over the past couple of years. New overseas airlines such as Vueling, Transavia, and Wow Air are all entering the Irish market for the first time this year.

Given the growth at Dublin, there will be a requirement for the company to build a second runway at the airport in due course. daa received planning permission for the construction of a second parallel runway in 2007. The various options with regard to the development of a second runway will be considered.

At Cork Airport, which is the State's second largest airport, the intention as I have described, is to work with the regional and tourism agencies to stabilise traffic and return to passenger growth. Our focus is on building sustainable demand from both inbound traffic and Cork Airport's hinterland, which has a population of 1.2 million people within a 90-minute drive.

daa welcomes the publication of the State's draft national aviation policy, NAP, to which we have contributed. daa looks forward to the publication of the final NAP shortly. We are particularly pleased to see the inclusion of a number of important initiatives in the draft NAP that will enhance Ireland's connectivity and enable traffic growth. In particular the following: support for the development of Dublin Airport as a secondary hub; the co-ordination of enterprise and tourism marketing efforts in support of new route development at airports; and a commitment to a more liberal approach to the award of fifth freedoms as part of aviation agreements. We have some concerns about the position of Cork Airport in the draft NAP, given that Cork is the second largest airport in the State and a key national asset. While there is explicit provision for other airports, there is no specific designation for Cork Airport in the draft policy. We would be hopeful that the final policy, when published, will address this issue.

daa also intends to continue to grow revenue from its international activities, ARI and daa International. ARI operates in eight countries and made a profit of more than €29 million in 2013. ARI manages travel retail outlets in countries such as Canada, India and Cyprus. It runs daa's award winning Irish retail operation and it also owns a 20% stake in Dusseldorf Airport. ARI is a hidden Irish multinational, as through its partnerships and joint ventures it had managed turnover of more than $1 billion in 2013 and employed more than 3,500 people worldwide.

During the past three years, the company successfully and in a very timely manner completed its planned withdrawal from operations in Russia and the Ukraine to focus on higher growth opportunities in its core markets. Last year, ARI significantly expanded its Cypriot business when it acquired full control of CTC-ARI, the company that has the concession to run the retail outlets at Larnaca and Paphos airports. ARI now operates almost 5,000 sq. m of retail space across the two airports in Cyprus and employs approximately 375 people directly in those stores. ARI also operates airport retail stores in locations such as New Delhi, Beirut, Barbados, Montreal and Muscat.

At home, ARI is close to completing a major upgrade of the retail offer in terminal 1 at Dublin Airport which will bring in a number of new innovations. As a major travel retailer with international operations, ARI can leverage its expertise and skills across the business to great effect. For example, the award-winning Christmas marketing campaign, Joy of Giving, which was originally devised for the Irish market, is now being successfully used in Canada, Cyprus, Bahrain, Delhi and Muscat. Through ARI, daa is constantly exposed to the latest trends in the international travel retail sector. The revenue earned by ARI is vital for the group as the income from its Irish operations effectively subsidises airport charges at Dublin and Cork while funds generated by the overseas business are typically re-invested in the Irish market. This income is crucial to the group, as the core Irish airport business was barely profitable in 2013.

Given the essential role played by the ongoing revenue generated by ARI's overseas business and shareholdings, the group has taken a strategic decision to continue to hold these assets and seek to expand income from these areas. Over the past three years, the group has created a new overseas business daa International to take advantage of the broader skills base within the organisation as well as the very strong reputation of daa as an airport operator internationally. The experience of the investment programme delivered at both Dublin and Cork airports and the way in which new assets were delivered successfully into operational use have helped built a knowledge bank internally and an excellent brand for daa within the international aviation sector. As such, daa International is positioned to provide airport management services to financial investors in the global airport sector and also operates an international aviation training business, which has significant potential.

There is a large amount of acquisitions activity within the global airport sector and many of the financial investors in airports are keen to partner with industry experts and airport managers such as daa. In this regard, daa has already won business in the Middle East, India, Australia and the United States of America and has a strong pipeline of potential deals in its core markets. Our strategy is to build this into a second significant international business which delivers value to the State. The group is also a recognised leader in airport car park management systems, having pioneered a yield management structure for its long-term and short-term car parks. This expertise is now being sold to airports in North America and Europe.

Against the backdrop of a slowly recovering Irish economy, daa has made significant progress over the past three years. Overall passenger numbers at Dublin and Cork increased by 13% between 2012 and the end of 2014. Traffic at Dublin Airport increased by 16% during the same period, with particular growth in long-haul passenger numbers. Transatlantic traffic increased by one third over the past three years and is now at record levels. Dublin is becoming a hub for transatlantic connections and now has 750,000 transfer passengers. Despite the growth in passenger numbers, daa's core airports business was only marginally profitable in 2013, which is the most recent period for which figures are publicly available. The passenger experience at both airports has been improved while there has been a continued focus on cost control. Net debt levels were reduced by 16% between the end of 2011 and the end of 2013.

ARI has continued to trade well during the period. It has refocused on its core geographies and significantly expanded its business in Cyprus. The group has also launched a new international arm with significant long-term potential. It would be a privilege for me to contribute to these initiatives as chairman of daa and to continue to do what I can to help optimise the contribution daa makes to the economy as a whole. Again, I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for the invitation to appear this morning and I am happy to address any questions.